Kent calls for more adopters

Kent is in need of more adopters and Kent County Council is holding an event on Tuesday, July 11^th 2017 so people can hear more about this life-changing decision.

This information event will allow individuals to learn more about adoption and the children who need adoptive families in Kent. There will be a formal presentation and attendees will hear from adoptive parents about their experiences and find out more about the application process.

Kent adoption team recently received a ‘good’ judgement from Ofsted which further confirms the team’s ability to ensure a good service for both prospective families and children.

Whilst all children are in need of a loving home, a particular drive is ongoing for more potential adopters to consider sibling groups. Kent always strives to keep siblings together when this is considered to be in the children’s best interest and there is a constant need for families able to parent a sibling group.

Kent placed 84 children last year, including babies and children up to 9 years old and several sibling groups.

Oliver and Sophie* looked into adoption in 2014 and made the decision to expand their family.

Oliver commented: “We wanted to have a family, and as this was not an option naturally, we thought, let’s look into adoption.”

Sophie added: “This was the best decisions we ever made. We watched some documentaries on it, did some research and then went along to a KCC adoption event and heard first-hand from adopters, it was so insightful.”

KCC holds events throughout the year that allows individuals who are interested to learn more about adoption to come along and speak with the team and hear first-hand accounts.

Oliver and Sophie are now parents to two young boys aged 5 and 6 who were placed with them in 2015.

Oliver continued to say: “We learnt that sibling groups were in desperation of being placed together as in many circumstances, they are separated. We did not want this to happen. In our opinion, we felt that because they were placed together, this helped their transition and they were supported by each other too.”

Sophie added: “We could now never even imagine just having one of our boys. To be honest, if you are considering having more than one child then this is the best route to go down. Or otherwise, you would go through the process a number of times which is a lot of transition for the children.”

Oliver said: “The training and support KCC provided us throughout was just phenomenal. The children were really well supported and the post-adoption training is fantastic and a special asset KCC has.”

As noted by Ofsted, KCC offers post-adoption support which is a range of innovative services provided by the multi-disciplinary team and includes further training, workshops, support etc.

Sophie concluded: “I cannot explain the first moment the children referred to us as ‘mummy’ and ‘daddy’. It was just incredible to finally become a family and these two boys completed us.”

Roger Gough, KCC Cabinet Member for Children, Young People and Education, said: “Kent is in need of more adoption placements so we can secure a loving and permanent home for children, and in particular, sibling groups.

“Hearing first-hand accounts from couples such as Oliver and Sophie expresses how these children complete their families and I urge people to consider this option of adopting siblings.”

To hear more about adoption, attend the information evening at Oakwood House Hotel, Maidstone ME16 8AE on Tuesday 11th July at 6pm.

*For anonymity purposes, pseudonyms have been used for the couple.